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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115182">Snow White and the Dark Knight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelsbels/pseuds/Nelsbels'>Nelsbels</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Snow White and the Huntsman Fusion, Alternative Universe - Fairytale, Angst, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Darcyland (Marvel), Dark Fairytale, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Little Mermaid Elements, Pining, Romance, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Snow White Elements, Touch-Starved, White and Black Magic, WinterShock - Freeform, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:15:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelsbels/pseuds/Nelsbels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Monsters were not allowed to love, he was told they were incapable of it, but yet he yearned for her, yearned to consume her innocence just the same.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Snow White and the Dark Knight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Throughout history Kingdoms rose and fell over night. </p><p><br/><br/>A sinister being hid behind a beautiful facade of a human woman, drenched in dark magic, with all the seven deadly sins living within its vessel. </p><p><br/><br/>Under pretence of a victim from another fallen Kingdom ravaged by war and greed of men, the dark Queen sought out a King once more.</p><p><br/><br/>Before the black ink had dried on the parchment, which depicted their joining in marriage, she poisoned him, and over night a Kingdom fell and another rose in its stead.</p><p><br/><br/>“Long live the Queen.”<br/><br/></p><p><br/>Her sigil was of the eight headed serpent.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The King’s beloved daughter was kept as a prize of war, thrown to the slaves to become one of the many servants of the castle, to serve the monarch that had over thrown her father. </p><p><br/><br/>The young princess not yet on the cusp of womanhood, barely eleven, had her whole world shattered within days. Watching, powerless to protect her father and her people, as the malicious Queen consumed the once benevolent and prosperous lands. The black forest that bordered the vast castle by the sea grew thicker over night and the everlasting winter befell the Kingdom for many years to come. </p><p><br/><br/>The people of the castle tried to hide her from the sadistic Queen that took great pleasure in parading the once a princess now a servant. </p><p><br/><br/>Anyone that dared not to kneel before the Queen, those who rose or spoke against the new sovereign were turned to ash mercilessly by her hands or cut down by her dark knight.</p><p> </p><p>He was a creature that did not speak, a silent monster in the shape of a human man clad in black armour. His face hidden behind a mask and the hood of the long ebony cloak he wore, which blended into the darkness. </p><p> </p><p>The once powerful, honour bound knights of the Kingdom fell one by one until none remained standing. The dark mercinary’s skill unmatched. He bathed the streets and the floors of the fortress with blood of the Queen's adversaries. </p><p> </p><p>When the malevolent Queen had no longer a need of him she kept him in stasis inside a thick frozen wall of ice, hidden within the shadows of the castle walls in a parallel dimension unseen by all. </p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/><br/>The girl was lovely in every depiction of the word and earned the namesake the people called her. ‘Snow White’. Her fair skin pale, as white as the falling snow, her ebony locks as dark as the moonless nights and her lips as red as spilled blood.  </p><p><br/><br/>The Queen enjoyed watching the innocence within the former princess’s eyes diminish with every year that went past but yet hope and defiance still remained, burning deep in the blue depths, much to the dark monarch’s displeasure. However, it did not deter the witch and a cruel smile appeared on the beautiful face of the vessel in which she resided in. </p><p><br/><br/>Sinister plans came to fruition in her mind’s eye as she watched the girl. Time would wear the princess down and once the girl came of age the Queen will rip her soul from her body and devour her still beating heart. The thought of cracking the chest open with her bare hands excited her, to feel the bones break and the blood cover her hands. Her eyes flashed, her nails like talons scraped against the stone, the bloodlust was almost overwhelming. </p><p> </p><p>Dark magic came at a great cost to the user, it bled the life force from them, stealing years of life, ageing them rapidly. </p><p> </p><p>The words of her familiar ringing in her ears still. The mirror, molten gold, spoke in a deep grave voice of the demon that it was. </p><p> </p><p>“Once the fair maiden comes of age she will come into her power, of life itself, whoever consumes her heart will remain young till the end of time.” </p><p> </p><p>It came as a surprise that the child had magic weaved into her essence, laying dormant in her very soul. It was the reason why the lands did not die and the soil was still able to bear fruit. She was tethered to it. </p><p> </p><p>On the eve of Snow White’s 21st birthday, the year she would have inherited the throne and when her power will peak, the witch planned to kill the girl and gain true immortality.</p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/>Over the years the princess grew into the beauty that was her given name, Darcy, which meant ‘dark haired’ or ‘dark beauty’.</p><p> </p><p>She remained kind despite the cruel torment she endured under the Queen, or the physical labour thrust upon her young shoulders at an early age.</p><p> </p><p>Humiliated and stripped of her title she never wavered, she still cared for the people of the castle and the lands of her late father. She prayed that perhaps one day justice would prevail but after ten years of tyranny that she and her people endured, her bleak world only grew bleaker as she neared her 21st birthday.</p><p> </p><p>The Queen’s mercenaries seized her, pulling her away from her friends that became as dear to her as family. They screamed and cried after their princess as the soldiers dragged her away mercilessly. She fought every step of the way until they threw her into the dark tower, to be kept a prisoner until the fateful day, by the order of their Queen.</p><p><br/><br/>Fearing an escape attempt the Queen sent her dark knight to guard her. Releasing him from the frozen world he stepped forward.<br/><br/></p><p><br/>“What is your bidding my Queen?” His voice devoid of any emotion, speaking like a puppet he was. </p><p><br/><br/>A grim smile spread along her face as she appraised the soldier she kept prisoner for decades. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>Darcy did not know what awaited her but feared her fate was sealed at the hands of the malicious sovereign that ruled her father's lands without mercy.</p><p><br/><br/>She had heard of the tales of young maidens going missing from the villages, heard the rumours of their grim demise at the hands of the witch Queen, devouring their souls and drinking their life force to remain young forever. </p><p> </p><p>The lonely days she spent isolated from everyone in the cold tower made her grow anxious and the presence of the silent dark knight hidden within the shadows outside her cell only heightened her fear. The realisation dawned on her that there would be no escape and that she would spend her last days on this earth alone with only the knight’s shadow to keep her company.</p><p><br/><br/>She huddled in the far corner of the straw bed she lay on top of, wrapped in the thin woollen blankets given to her. Her head rested against the stonewall as she looked up at the only source of light filtering through the little window high above her and with a heavy heart she begun to sing, seeking to escape momentarily from the prison she was held in while she awaited her imminent death. </p><p><br/><br/>Her voice was a low feminine drawl, laced with darkness her heart was plagued with, unable to shake the dark thoughts of her impending birthday in the coming weeks. Songs that were meant to represent hope, blooming love and a bright future had become twisted by her despair, however the words nor the way she sung made it any less enticing, like a melancholy siren's call. </p><p><br/><br/>She felt the dark knight’s gaze on her, felt him move despite unable to see him in the darkness of the tower. The memory of his long blade, forged from the blackest steel, cutting down her father’s knights, weighted heavily on her mind and heart causing a shiver of fear to shoot through her, clutching the thin blanket closer to her chest while her hands shook. </p><p> </p><p>The blood that the dragon spilled, as willed by its master, was enough to paint the vast castle’s walls crimson red. Like a waterfall the blood cascaded down the fortress's steps.</p><p><br/><br/>After a prolonged period of isolation and the bitterness that the memories brought had finally overwhelmed her and her anger spiked, uncaring of the consequences she lashed out, as what more could be done to her than what she had already suffered through? What could be worse than the fate she awaited?</p><p><br/><br/>She flipped the tray of food the dark knight had brought her, her chest heaving from unrestrained rage. The violent act felt almost cathartic to Darcy and she thought that perhaps if she provoked him enough he’d give her a swift death than the slow torture she imagined would come to her at the hands of the malicious witch pretending to be a monarch that sat on her beloved father’s throne. </p><p><br/><br/>“Monster.” her voice was soaked with pure hate.</p><p> </p><p>She saw him flinch, which startled her momentarily, halting her. '<em>How can one such as him have any heart left after all the blood he had spilled?' </em>she thought.</p><p> </p><p>Darcy watched him as he retreated, moving away from her to blend back into the darkness, out of her sight. </p><p><br/><br/>A sense of dark satisfaction washed over her, having accomplished an impossible task of getting under the skin of the demon that guarded her day and night. She knew he was still there, could still feel his presence. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/>The Winter Soldier knew nothing but the task, the order, the command that was given to him by his master. His mind forever in a haze, unable to break free of the bindings that held him prisoner in mind, body and soul.</p><p> </p><p>He did not think he had a soul any more.</p><p> </p><p>His limbs moved on their own accord as his barely conscious mind watched on, witnessing the horrors his own hands created against his will. </p><p><br/><br/>His master kept him in a state of slumber when she had no use for him. During the slumber he dreamt but the dreams that he was trapped in did not bring him peace. All the people he’d killed plagued his tortured mind as he lost time. Years, decades went past and he was powerless to stop it. He did not know what year it was anymore. He thought he remembered a time when it distressed him greatly when his mind still fought and his heart filled with dread each time he was awakened but now it had dwindled to a distant memory of inconsequence. His mind and body numb. </p><p><br/><br/>After the serpent witch took over yet another Kingdom and once he'd done her bidding, she sent him into the frozen sleep again.</p><p> </p><p>However, it was different this time. His mind bled in and out of consciousness periodically over the years when he heard a distant voice, someone unknown to him, singing a lullaby, a sweet melody that echoed along the dark walls of the castle. </p><p><br/><br/>The words echoed within his frozen body and brought brief visions, flashes of memories he did not know he possessed nor could yet make any sense of. He desperately wanted to be free of the frozen cage, the unseen chains that held him prisoner and seek out the bearer of the melancholy voice, a young maiden's his mind supplied, but did not understand why. </p><p><br/><br/>He was unaware nor could he tell how much time had gone passed when the malevolent Queen woke him yet again. For the first time in many years his mind filled with dread and emotion bloomed in his chest once more, it felt alien to him, his once numb heart able to feel again. </p><p><br/><br/>The witch ordered him to guard a young woman and so he followed his master's bidding, his mind in a haze, never questioning, as any disobedience was met with merciless punishment. And so from the shadows of the high tower, where she was imprisoned under lock and key, he kept a watchful eye over the girl, like a dragon guarding precious treasure.  </p><p><br/><br/>In the weeks he guarded her, watching her from a distance, falling deeper and deeper within herself, her eyes far away as she removed her mind from the cell that contained her body, brought a sense of dark peace to him that he had never thought he’d ever felt before. He knew deep down that it was wrong, twisted, but the realisation that she was like him, a prisoner of a sinister witch that held the fortress with an iron fist, ebbed the feeling of solitude somewhat. </p><p><br/><br/>And when she started to sing he recognised her voice immediately, it was a little changed from before but he knew it was her, the girl that woke him each time from the stasis he was kept. The longer he listened the clearer his mind became, the more he could remember and form coherent thoughts. The haze lifting from his mind progressively.</p><p><br/><br/>He then came to a stark realisation that he thought the maiden truly beautiful. </p><p><br/><br/>The first time she held his gaze unintentionally he felt his once unfeeling heart stutter within his chest and clench like a vice. </p><p><br/><br/>“Monster.” </p><p><br/><br/>He couldn’t help recoiling from the hate filled word, stung by the lovely creature he kept captive. He thought her words true, <em>he was a monster</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Filled with self-hate he withdrew from her sight back into the shadows, to the torment inside his own mind. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>The castle staff mourned the imprisonment of their former princess. </p><p><br/><br/>Away from the watchful eyes of their Queen they pitied her and worried about her well being. What would become of their true monarch? They felt all hope lost.</p><p><br/><br/>The kitchen staff shook in their boots each time the dark knight came to take the tray of food for their poor princess. </p><p><br/><br/>Eric, the head chef added a book onto the tray, to give the poor girl something to occupy her mind during her isolation in the tower. He stood nervously in front of the black clad soldier as he passed him the tray. He could tell he noticed the object as he turned his masked face in the direction of the book. Eric felt his heart drop to his feet from anxiety and held his breath but the knight only turned with the tray still in hand and walked away silently. The breath Eric held came out in a rush and his whole body sagged and he fell back onto the chair behind him. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/><br/>Darcy was tempted to throw the tray of food he brought her again, to shout at him in agony, to release the anguish that slowly consumed her, but halted when her eyes fell onto the foreign object. A book she knew well lay on the tray. It was her favourite text, the last one her beloved father gifted her before his passing. Her throat tightened and her eyes glazed with unshed tears due to a small mercy she was suddenly allowed. She almost snatched the tray from him in her hurry as he passed it through the horizontal gap created within the steel bars to allow a tray of food to go through. </p><p><br/><br/>He watched her put the tray down and leave the food untouched, quickly grab the book and retreat to the far corner of the straw bed she slept on, just above the single window that allowed light to eliminate the prison. </p><p><br/><br/>The book gave her much needed reprieve but it could only last for a few days.</p><p> </p><p>The claustrophobia of the walls and the metal bars around her were starting to make her skin itch. She thought her mind would break and that she’d go insane from the seclusion, the torment of silence. She could not bare much more of it.</p><p> </p><p>Against her better judgement and fuelled by desperation for conversation of any kind drove her to speak to her jailer, the diligent soldier of the evil witch, clad in armour dark as night, who guarded her day and night.</p><p><br/><br/>“What is your name?” She suddenly called out, her head turned in his direction but yet he did not answer.</p><p><br/><br/>“No I suppose you don’t have one, for what purpose would a monster need of a name?” She bated him bitterly, wanting something, anything from the immovable statue that was he. She then heard him take a step forward before he stilled once again. </p><p><br/><br/>“What do they call you then?” She tried again, annoyance laced her voice. The silence stretched and before she gave up he spoke, startling her, his voice deep and rough from disuse, slightly muffled by the mask of black leather and metal he wore. </p><p><br/><br/>“Winter Soldier.” he spoke slowly, almost reluctantly. His own voice foreign to him. </p><p> </p><p>“Tell me Winter Soldier...Do monsters sleep?” Her voice was a low drawl but sounded tired and any feeling was far removed. </p><p><br/><br/>“...Sometimes.” He humoured her despite not understanding why he did so nor the reasons why he answered her questions.</p><p> </p><p>The stasis he was kept in made up for all the days and nights he remained awake once summoned from the icy prison by his master. He thought that this was the first time, perhaps in a long time, he’d been awake for so long. </p><p><br/><br/>“How long have you followed your witch?”</p><p><br/><br/>“I don’t know.”</p><p> </p><p>His response stunned her somewhat, her eyebrows furrowing. </p><p><br/><br/>“Were you human before?” she pressed on.</p><p><br/><br/>“...I can’t remember.”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened at his words, she could not make sense of it.</p><p><br/><br/>“What do you remember?” </p><p><br/><br/>The silence stretched between them once more. Her curiosity of this creature that guarded her grew by the minute. He did not seem to know much about himself or his past. That was not how a willing follower acted and it then occurred to her that perhaps he was here just as unwillingly as she was.</p><p><br/><br/>The witch may have cursed him, consequently twisting his mind with her dark magic, to control him for unknown amount of time and had turned him into the monster he was now against his will. She had only seen him a handful of times in the last ten years, the fateful night her kingdom fell was the most prominent. Many speculated that he resided in the depths of hell until the witch Queen summoned him.</p><p> </p><p>Killing against one’s will tormented the mind and heart of the person and she acknowledged that the shell of a man that stood in the shadows before her was possibly the result of such dark fate. Pity unconsciously filled her chest and tugged at her heart despite the amount of blood he’d shed. What if that was her fate too? To be turned into a puppet and forced into doing the witch's bidding against her will. The mere thought had caught the breath in her throat in a tight grip as her distress rose, she suddenly found it hard to breath. Her hands shook and cold sweat broke out on her brow. </p><p><br/><br/>“Do you have a choice to kill or not?” she gasped out as she grabbed the metal bars to ground herself in any way she could, trying to will the panic away.</p><p><br/><br/>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>She almost did not hear him as blood rushed in her ears. Her thoughts and fears confirmed by his simple answer. He was forced to kill whoever the Queen commander with no objections, no thought of his own, unable to show any mercy. </p><p><br/><br/>“Has she cursed you?”</p><p><br/><br/>“Yes.”</p><p><br/><br/>She went quiet as she held her breath, mulling over his words with bone deep sadness and resignation to her possible fate.</p><p><br/><br/>And so they began their quiet and brief exchanges over the coming days. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>The next time he saw the head chef, the soldier stalled and asked in a low voice if he had any more books. Eric’s jaw dropped from the shock of hearing the dark knight speak, before snapping out of it and quickly barking at his assistant to fetch a couple of princess’s texts. </p><p><br/><br/>The chef looked back at him as if considering him for the first time despite the fact he could not see the soldier’s face. The knight saw something strange spark in the old man’s solemn eyes, which he later was able to decipher, <em>hope</em>. As to why he could not understand. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>One night he brought her thick white candles, lighting them, so that she could still read her books when sleep evaded her.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you read?” he questioned curiously, his voice low, resonating in his chest. He stood closer to her now, within her line of vision.</p><p><br/><br/>“It’s a fairytale...Can you read?”</p><p><br/><br/>“I’m not sure.”</p><p><br/><br/>“Do you want me to read a little to you?”</p><p><br/><br/>“Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>She smiled a little at that before she began to read aloud about a sad tale of a mermaid that fell in love with a human.<br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>“When you sing, I...I think I start to remember some things.”</p><p> </p><p>His revelation surprised her, her lips parted slightly from shock as she stood by the metal bars with the Winter Soldier on the other side, only a foot of distance between them. The dim light from the moon and the white candles illuminated the bottom of his mask while the dark cape hid his eyes from her. </p><p><br/><br/>“Truly? Like what?”</p><p><br/><br/>“Of my life before. I think...I had sisters.”</p><p><br/><br/>“I wish…I wish I had siblings.” She smiled ruefully, resting her forehead against the cold metal bars. She closed her eyes briefly and brought her hands up to grasp the bars on either side of her head for support. She remained silent, her mind still a little stunned from his confession.</p><p> </p><p>She opened her eyes to look up at him once more and she wished she could see his face. She could not imagine being stripped of her own humanity like he has and felt sympathy flood her, she spoke before thinking better of it.</p><p><br/><br/>“Are you able to remove your mask?”</p><p> </p><p>"...Yes."</p><p><br/><br/>They stood still, mute for a few moments before her hands lifted of their own accord and slowly pushed back the hood of his dark cape. The material fell back behind his head with a soft thump and revealed part of his face. His eyes were closed with eyebrows slightly furrowed.</p><p> </p><p>As he did not stop her she continued her ministrations. Her fingers glided along the smooth leather and metal of his mask looking for the clasp, once she found the latch it came undone with a soft click and she was finally able to remove the heavy object that hid his face from her. She startled at what she found beneath it and unintentionally dropped the mask from shock.</p><p> </p><p>The mask fell on to the stone floor with a heavy thud. </p><p><br/><br/>Instinctively she reached out again with both hands, as they gently touched his smooth cheeks she felt him exhale ruggedly and his eyes flew open at the contact. She was consumed by the silvery blue of their depths, unable to stop the alarmed gasp that escaped her lips when their eyes met.</p><p> </p><p>His intense gaze never leaving her own, his eyes searching while her own roamed his handsome features. Her hands brushed his dark shoulder length hair away from his face so that she could see him clearer. As she studied his face with gentle hands he closed his eyes, revelling in their warmth. Unable to suppress his craving for her touch he leaned into her hand, turning his face into her palm and eliciting another soft gasp from her as she felt the intimate soft brush of his lips against her skin. </p><p> </p><p>His face was impassive but his eyes were full of unrepressed raw emotion. His gaze burned her. He looked at her like he wanted to consume her whole and the sight both scared and thrilled her in a way she had never known before. <br/><br/></p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>He stared deeply into her eyes, their colour reminding him of the vast sky above, while his own traced her features like a lover's caress. She was so beautiful. The soft blush of her cheeks and the fullness of her tantalising rose tinted lips pulled him in, wanting to taste their sweetness. </p><p> </p><p>The monster that he was yearned for her from the very moment she touched him, perhaps even before then.</p><p> </p><p>He knew that creatures such as him were not allowed to love, he was told they were incapable of it, but yet he yearned for her still, yearned to consume her innocence just the same.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Weeeellll, that was unexpected. Just sprang at me...(rude)...couldn't stop myself, in the mood for a fairytale :D</p><p>Hope you have enjoyed this chapter!</p><p> </p><p>*shakes tin can bashfully for comments and kudos for encouragement* \(^.^)/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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